SWC team combines strong expertise in agroforestry, forestry and carbon finance and has a significant track record in developing long-term investments in environmental assets. Building sustainable value chains with local communities, thanks to sustainable agricultural and forestry practices, while generating high quality carbon emission avoidances or carbon removals is key to maximize environmental, social and biodiversity benefits.

“Our planet is overheating. We need to pass from 51 GtCO₂eq. /year global GHG emissions to Net Zero and the decarbonization of energy and heavy industry, alone, won’t suffice”, states Laurent Valiergue, co-founder of The Shared Wood Company. “Solutions based on nature are a key lever to reverse the trend and reach the Paris Agreement target (1.5°C) and tackle biodiversity and poverty reduction challenges inherent to that mandate”

To support SWC’s growth, AXA IM Alts, through its Impact Investing Strategy, and ENGIE, through its business entity “Global Energy Management & Sales”, have acquired a minority stake in the company. They will further support its development by providing financing for forestry and sustainable land-use projects and by off-taking the high-quality carbon emission avoidances or carbon removals generated by such projects and operations.

The projects to be deployed by SWC will be certified to guarantee carbon, communities and environmental benefits.

Erick Decker, AXA Group Head of Responsible Investment, comments: “Forests represent 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity and play an essential role in the fight against climate change. AXA has been a pioneer investor through AXA’s Impact Strategy since 2013, taking concrete measures to fight deforestation, protect forest ecosystems, and preserve biodiversity. We are pleased to extend our actions today by joining The Shared Wood Company to accelerate financing into biodiversity restoration and supporting local communities whose livelihoods’ depend on forest ecosystems.”

“ENGIE is a global reference in low-carbon energy and services. This investment presents a great opportunity to access high-quality nature-based carbon offsets to accelerate our clients’ transition to carbon neutrality.” explains Laurence Kunes, member of the Executive Committee of ENGIE’s business entity ‘Global Energy Management & Sales’, and adding “By channeling carbon finance to preserve and restore natural ecosystems, we aim to generate significant environmental and societal benefits”.  

To this end, the Neuss-based industrial company has concluded an energy supply contract, a so-called Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), with the energy company ENGIE. Around 28 million kilowatt hours are called up depending on wind levels and the output of the systems. With this quantity, among other things, four induction furnaces for melting aluminum chips, which are mainly used for can material, can be fully operated. For the largest aluminum smelting and rolling mill in the world, the entry into wind energy is a further step in continuously reducing its carbon footprint.

“Producing aluminum as resource-efficiently as possible”

Alunorf wants to emit up to 30 percent less CO2 compared to 2015 by 2026 – and has also anchored this as a core goal in its corporate strategy. “Aluminum is an indispensable raw material for the energy and mobility transition. Light body parts and battery foils or components of wind turbines and photovoltaic systems are made from the primary material that is cast in Norf. We see it as our responsibility to produce the required aluminum as resource-efficiently as possible,” says Oliver Hommel, Commercial Director.

The decisive lever for this is recycling. Here, Alunorf has recently set important milestones with investments in an intelligent logistics and charging system (“Batch Intelligence System – BIS”) and a third recycling oven. “As an energy-intensive industrial company, we are also looking into alternatives in terms of power supply or gas as an energy source for ovens,” says Oliver Hommel.

“Preserving existing capacities for sustainable energy in the region”

Getting into the supply of wind energy now was an obvious choice for Alunorf: until recently, the wind farms in Krefeld, Viersen, Düren and Baesweiler were subsidized by the EEG (Renewable Energy Act). Since this has expired, the capacities were available. “It was important to us to rely on systems in the area in order to preserve the resources for green energy in the region,” says Oliver Hommel.

“The targeted delivery volume over a period of one year is very well suited to incorporating wind power into our existing portfolio at short notice. In 2022 we will examine how the product fits our needs and how supply fluctuations affect it. We will use this experience to develop a strategy for continuously and sustainably expanding the share of renewable energies in our electricity portfolio,” says Oliver Hommel.

“We are pleased that we can accompany Alunorf on the way to achieving their CO2 targets with a green electricity supply contract. Power Purchase Agreements are an excellent way to save CO2 from an environmental and economic point of view. As an energy-intensive and locally rooted production company, Alunorf has special needs that we, as energy managers, took into account when designing the PPA in order to find the best solution,” says Julia Schlafmann, Senior Originator at ENGIE.

This transaction is the latest deal of the growing business relationship between the two companies. ENGIE already supplies O-I with natural gas and electricity in several European countries, as well as energy efficiency services for O-I factories in France. In Mexico and Peru, O-I also sources electricity from ENGIE, while 25% of O-I’s electricity consumption in the US is supplied by ENGIE with renewable electricity.

“Thanks to a wide range of solutions for energy risk management, ENGIE is connecting the dots between the challenging sustainability goals of energy-intensive global companies like O-I on the one hand, and innovative low-carbon solutions on the other hand. Our large and diverse portfolio of carbon-neutral products was instrumental to design a tailormade solution for O-I.” says Olivier BLOEYAERT, Executive Committee member of ENGIE’s global entity “Global Energy Management & Sales”; adding: “We are proud to support our business partner O-I in their efforts for a sustainable future.”

“At O-I, our vision is to be the most innovative, sustainable, and chosen supplier of brand-building packaging solutions. While we believe glass packaging is already the most sustainable packaging solution, sustainability at O-I is about more than what we make”, said Randy Burns, Chief Sustainability Officer at O-I. “This long-term agreement is an important building block towards our pledge to reduce O-I’s global greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030. As part of our roadmap, we are striving to increase our global renewable electricity consumption to between 30% and 35% this year. At O-I, the journey to sustainability is grounded in resilience, innovation, and the ever-present challenge to transform what we do.”

Multiple European BASF sites will be supplied from ENGIE’s renewable project portfolio in Europe. The electricity will initially come from onshore wind farms located in various sites throughout the Spanish territory in which ENGIE acts as equity investor or energy manager. In the further course, ENGIE will have the option to either deliver power from existing Spanish assets or from future onshore and offshore wind farms from ENGIE’s renewable portfolio.

“BASF and ENGIE have been working together for many years. With this agreement we take a significant next step on our path to climate-neutral chemical production. One important lever is replacing fossil-based electricity with renewable electricity. This long-term contract with a key player in the European energy market secures substantial volumes of electricity from renewable sources for BASF. At the same time, it makes BASF an enabler for green energy triggering additional projects for renewable power in Europe,” said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE.

Catherine MacGregor, CEO of ENGIE, said: “Thanks to our large, diverse and growing portfolio of renewable energy production, ENGIE is able to provide carbon-free energy and electricity to its clients, including leading multinational companies such as BASF. It demonstrates our ability to accompany them on their own path to carbon neutrality, an achievement we are very proud of. This contract will deliver steady economic and environmental value in the long run for both partners.”

BloombergNEF, the reference in terms of strategic analysis in the field of energy transition, ranks ENGIE first position at the end of July 2021 for signed corporate PPAs. At the end of September, ENGIE has already signed new Corporate Power Purchase Agreements for a total volume of 1.9 gigawatts since the beginning of the year (versus 1.5 gigawatts for the full year 2020), to provide major industrial and tech companies with renewable power

This agreement is fully aligned with ENGIE’s long-term strategy to develop renewables and BASF’s climate protection goals. BASF aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by the year 2030 compared with 2018 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

From 2030 onwards, BASF wants to implement low-emission technologies, such as CO2- free methods for the production of hydrogen and electrically heated steam crackers, which will significantly increase BASF’s demand of renewable power.

The optimization services, which will be managed from Madrid, include weather and market analysis, day-ahead and intraday market bidding, nomination to the TSO, real-time dispatching and ancillary services.​

This is a major step in a 2-year hydro journey during which ENGIE Global Energy Management has played a key role right from the start of the negotiations that ENGIE, Crédit Agricole Assurances and Mirova led under the Movhera brand to acquire EDP’s Portuguese hydro plants.​

From asset evaluation to optimization, ENGIE Global Energy Management demonstrates the breadth of expertise of teams that are able to power all sectors and countries. Here is an example of the solutions implemented at Movhera: ​

• Risk Management and hedging,​
• A 12-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA),​
• Weather and market analysis,​
• Day-ahead and intraday market bidding,​
• TSO nomination,​
• Real-time dispatching and ancillary services activation.​

The growth of ENGIE Global Energy Management’s diversified renewable energy portfolio is a key element towards Net-Zero carbon for our customers; the PPA with Movhera has notably allowed to structure several downstream baseload energy contracts with Spanish customers.

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Under the terms of the agreement, ENGIE will assemble and negotiate an energy portfolio to supply Google with renewable power (solar and wind) to ensure that all its German operations are nearly 80% carbon-free by 2022. This is a first-of-a-kind in Europe where a company is guaranteeing carbon-free power supply 24/7 on an annual basis from solar and wind generation. Altogether, ENGIE will supply Google with 140 MW of renewable electricity. ENGIE will also provide comprehensive energy management services including sourcing of residual supply, balancing pool management, grid management, and more.

ENGIE and Google first partnered in 2019 when the companies entered into a 5-year power purchase agreement in Belgium for renewable power supply from an offshore wind project. This was followed by the award of a similar contract in The Netherlands, and now this carbon-free commitment in Germany.

“We selected ENGIE based on its expertise in the field of decarbonization and its ability to transform how clean energy is supplied”, said Marc Oman, Senior Lead of Data Center Energy and Infrastructure at Google. “Google has been leading the way towards a carbon-free future for over a decade, and as we look forward, our goal of running entirely on 24/7 carbon-free energy around the world by 2030 will require collaboration and partnerships with energy leaders like ENGIE, that are jointly committed to long-term, sustainable energy practices.” 

“ENGIE is very pleased to collaborate once again with Google and extend both group’s existing partnership. As a leading player in renewables and with global expertise in decarbonization, ENGIE will significantly support Google with its ambitious carbon-free energy target. This contract illustrates how ENGIE developed innovative solutions to meet its customers’ specific needs: the Group can ensure 24/7 renewable energy supply either by building assets or by sourcing the power from different existing plants, thanks to its global energy management activities”.

Paulo Almirante, Senior Executive Vice President  in charge of Renewable and Global Energy Management activities at ENGIE

Covestro will be covering almost half of its future electricity demand in Belgium from wind energy. The company concluded a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ENGIE, the largest producer of renewable energy in the country. From April 1, 2021, the energy provider is going to supply around 45 percent of the electricity demand of Covestro in Antwerp from 15 wind turbines in four newly constructed onshore wind farms, all part of the Conquest Group’s partnership, called Conquest4Wind P5.

The new agreement, known as a Corporate PPA, covers a capacity of 39 megawatts. This equals the energy supply for about 30,000 private households and reduces Covestro’s carbon footprint in Belgium by more than 38,500 metric tons of CO₂, which is equivalent to the emissions of almost 20,000 cars per year.

More energy efficient production

Production in the chemical industry is traditionally energy-intensive. Covestro sees this as an incentive to take responsibility and minimize both energy demand and CO2 emissions from production plants and processes. With its various innovative process technologies and a licensed energy management system Covestro has already significantly increased energy efficiency and reduced emissions from its production. The company has set itself the goal to halve its specific carbon dioxide emissions by 2025 compared to 2005. In addition and in line with its new vision, Covestro wants to obtain most of the remaining energy from wind power.

“The new supply agreement is a milestone in the conversion of our production to the use of renewable energies,” says Georg Wagner, Managing Director at Covestro in Antwerp. “Wind energy, together with the use of sustainable raw materials and innovative recycling technologies, are important steps towards realizing our vision of becoming fully circular and achieving the climate goals of the European Green Deal. We are pleased to have found a partner in ENGIE to take this next step, with which we support our customers and the corresponding value chains to produce more sustainably.”

Largest supplier of renewable energies in Belgium

Vincent Verbeke, Executive Committee member of ENGIE’s “Global Energy Management & Sales” business unit  , says, “Being the largest renewable energy producer in Belgium, ENGIE acts to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world, by supporting its clients in reaching their sustainability goals. We are proud to help Covestro meet their environmental goals and to facilitate their consumption of onshore wind energy. This contract also illustrates ENGIE’s strong ambition to increase renewables’ development in Belgium.“

At its Antwerp site, Covestro produces the high-performance plastic polycarbonate, which is used in car headlights, electrical and electronic components, LED lights, medical technology and many other applications. It also produces polyethers and the important industrial chemical aniline. The latter is eventually processed into methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), a raw material for rigid polyurethane foam, which has proven to be an efficient insulator for buildings and in the cold chain.

In May 2020, Covestro announced its ambition to become fully circular, an ambition that is based on 4 pillars: renewable energy, the use of alternative raw materials, research into innovative recycling technologies and finally partnerships.

The Antwerp production site has already taken several important steps in this direction. Thus, a new multi-client wastewater treatment plant has been installed, which will significantly reduce the industry’s need for drinking water. The site has obtained ISCC-plus certification and has processed its first delivery of biobased raw materials from Total. At the same time, the Antwerp site is strongly focusing its R&D activities on the development of innovative recycling and chemical technologies.

Conquest is delighted to participate in this transaction in Belgium, demonstrating its commitment to building one of the largest sustainable infrastructure portfolios in Europe and its willingness to engage major industrial companies in a greener way.

Frédéric Palanque, president and founder of Conquest, said, “This new partnership with Engie and Covestro shows how Conquest can help create a place where sustainable opportunities and key stakeholders can come together. “

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ENGIE and Equinor signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate the development low-carbon hydrogen value chains in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. In the coming months, ENGIE and Equinor will start discussions with potential customers to assess the project, as well as with stakeholders and relevant authorities.

ENGIE and Equinor believe that it is essential to develop low-carbon and renewable hydrogen projects at scale in order to make it possible for industrial customers to significantly reduce CO2 emissions before 2030. This development of low carbon and renewable hydrogen will accelerate the construction of new hydrogen infrastructure and the repurposing of current natural gas infrastructure, thus paving the way for Net Zero in 2050.

Edouard Neviaski, CEO of the ENGIE’s Business Unit Global Energy Management says: “We are glad to work on this project with Equinor, a long-standing partner for more than 40 years. ENGIE firmly believes that hydrogen will play a key role in the energy transition. ENGIE produces renewable hydrogen and supports the development of the market for low-carbon hydrogen. Both these technologies will be necessary to accelerate the development of a solid infrastructure and the transition to a carbon neutral economy.”

Grete Tveit, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Low Carbon Solutions says: “Equinor aims to be a leading company in the energy transition. We believe that hydrogen and CCS will be vital if we are going to succeed with the transition. Collaboration and partnerships will be absolutely necessary to find the best solutions. Our two companies have complementary areas of expertise that we can utilize to develop low carbon hydrogen initiatives together.”

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Incubated by ENGIE, the internal startup TEO (now Attributes) allows the Group’s professional clients – companies and local authorities – to embark on the path of green energy consumption. Thanks to the solution developed by TEO, clients can not only choose the source of energy most adapted to their needs, whether solar or wind, but also precisely identify the site that will produce this energy from within the portfolio of ENGIE’s renewable plants, in order to select a source closest to their sites of consumption. Seven days a week, clients are informed of the source of the energy consumed, as well as the positive impact generated, communicated in terms such as tons of CO2 avoided, the amount of auto emissions avoided, or trees planted.

The TEO solution depends upon blockchain, and more specifically upon the execution of smart contracts, irrevocable information programs that execute a number of predefined instructions. The mandatory value of these contracts is not guaranteed by law, but directly by the digital code. ENGIE has partnered with Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, and the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), a French public research body, to conduct an audit of the solution and validate the precision of the processes and calculations generated by TEO. By leaning upon their expertise in formal methodologies and proof of ownership, the researchers of CEA-List, the CEA institute dedicated to intelligent digital systems, have led an in-depth study of the code for these smart contracts, establishing the correspondences between the defined requirements and effective implementation of these contracts. Bureau Veritas validated the methodology used by the CEA and verified its corresponding execution by TEO. The three partners thus demonstrated how smart contracts developed by TEO allow ENGIE clients to establish traceability of the green energy consumed.

“For ENGIE, whose ambition is to accelerate the energy transition towards carbon neutrality, this collaboration marks a further step in supporting our clients towards sustainable and environmentally friendly solution. By choosing to join forces with world-renowned expert partners, ENGIE is once again affirming its desire to integrate innovation and technology into the heart of its practices, and to respond increasingly to the need to customize customer solutions.” says Vincent Verbeke, a member of the Executive Committee of ENGIE’s Global Energy Management & Sales Business Entity.

“Smart contracts are at the heart of many market platforms and require new verification processes. The validation of smart contracts by Bureau Veritas provides all participants in the blockchain with the assurance that they are operating in accordance with their expectations. In this innovative project, Bureau Veritas verifies the process and the result of the program’s calculations using a solid methodology defined with the CEA.
This is an important step in the development of this technology.” adds Thomas Daubigny, Chief Digital Officer of Bureau Veritas.

“For 20 years, the CEA-List has directed its skills towards proof and validation in service of software confidence. The need for this expertise is growing as citizens ask more from the digital systems with which they interact. The CEA-List, fulfilling its mission of transferring research to industry, has joined forces with Bureau Veritas, an expert in certification, to strengthen confidence in the blockchain technologies used by ENGIE. It is thus extending its scope to deal with new generations of distributed digital systems, the use of which is spreading very rapidly.” says Alexandre Bounouh, Director of the CEA-List Institute.

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Renewable energy will be supplied to INEOS from the Norther offshore windfarm in the North Sea from 1st January 2021.  The long-term 3060 GWh commitment will initially be used by existing INEOS production sites in Antwerp and later by Project ONE, the INEOS investment in two state of the art chemical plants for the production of ethylene and propylene in Antwerp, announced last year. 

Gerd Franken, Chairman INEOS Olefins & Polymers Europe, said: “It is the first of many environmental investments from our business as we continue to supply the products that people increasingly need across medical, food, transport, construction whilst reducing the carbon intensity of our production facilities.” 

ENGIE’s “Global Energy Management & Sales” Business Entity been instrumental to achieve this deal, playing a crucial “risk transformer” role, facilitating the green power value chain from producer to consumer. Relying on their deep energy markets knowledge and risk management expertise, the teams will convert the intermittent renewable energy supply into a fixed 24/7 power solution meeting INEOS’ energy needs.  

Vincent Verbeke, Executive Committee Member of ENGIE’s Business Entity “Global Energy Management & Sales” said: “Being the largest green energy producer in Belgium and more generally a major Net-Zero carbon energy producer in Europe, ENGIE acts to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world, supporting its clients in reaching their sustainability goals. This contract with INEOS, a  global manufacturer of petrochemicals, illustrates ENGIE’s “Global Energy Management & Sales” Business Entity’s strong ambition in Belgium but also in Europe. Several PPAs have been signed with major companies during the last months, such as Google or minerals and lime producer Lhoist”. 

• Access here the full press release on INEOS website (EN version)
• Access here the full Press Release on ENGIE Belgium website (NL version)

>> Read more about the PPA deal with Google 

>> Read more about the PPA deal with Lhoist 

>> Our LinkedIn post